Spotlit Black-chinned Hummingbird Taking Off Vertically

Including an alternate composition.

 

1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Yesterday morning this Black-chinned Hummingbird finally took a break from nectaring on my trumpet vine and rested for a few moments on one of its bare branches. The bird and branch were well lit but the foliage directly behind them was in deep shade, which rendered the background almost black.

Suddenly she started watching another hummingbird directly above her that I both heard and saw. This shot was taken immediately after she took off vertically to chase it away. Notice that both of her little feet have just left the branch. I had oodles of room in the frame above her but she took off so fast, the next photo in the burst included only her tail in the frame.

Because she was looking up, with her long bill pointed the same direction, I instinctively cropped the image vertically. But for reasons that would take a lot of words to explain, I think any vertical composition of the image has some insurmountable problems.

 

 

In my mind a horizontal composition works better overall, even though some viewers may be distracted by, or just not like, the lit-up green foliage in the foreground at bottom right.

I think each version has its strengths so I decided to include them both.

Ron

 

31 Comments

  1. I like them both, for very different reasons. The first for its drama and the second for context. It is amazing how different the orientation makes the same bird appear.

  2. Betty Sturdevant

    I love them both. I often say the only passion I have in my life anymore is watching hummingbirds. Thanks for your input.

  3. I’m for #1 on this one, with the focus on her. My eyes instantly look at her little feet leaving the branch, and the curves in her head/neck. While #2 gives the context, I’m distracted by her shadow on the branch to the right, and I have to force myself to look back at her, and those details aren’t as strong. Interesting how one’s brain reads stuff!
    My sister is in Santa Fe,NM – she said she spent dinner time last night watching at least 50 hummers on her deck!

  4. Couldn’t get online first thing this morning but finally I’m back and can see this. Both are great photos but I slightly favor the horizontal. The position of the hummer says it should be vertical but I think the branch is a strong enough element to make me favor horizontal, but only slightly. In response to the comment about flying backwards – Tropicbirds actually fly backwards during courtship displays so at least one other type of bird flies backward. However, it is accomplished in a very different manner than in hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are unique in their wing movements. Most of the wing is of primary feathers and at the end of the downstroke, the wing is flipped over and the “up-stroke” (really a back-stroke) generates lift in the same manner as the down or forward stroke. The wing traces a figure-8 configuration in the air. Of course, high-speed photography is the only way to have discovered that

  5. I’m so enthralled with the way the light is hitting the hummingbird that I didn’t even notice the different crops until I went back to read your text. (I used to look at all the pictures in my books before reading them too — even textbooks — so old habits die hard.🤪)

  6. Am Team Foliage 😄. Quite an amazing capture given how fast hummers move!

    Continue to be mesmerized by our migrating hummers. Am noticing the different markings in their flared tails. Quite fascinating!

    • Kathleen, it’s beginning to look like “Team Foliage” is in the majority.

      Speaking of migrating hummers, I still haven’t seen a Rufous this year.

  7. I prefer the 2nd shot with the foliage included plus just giving more “space” for the hummer. Those stubby little legs alway amaze me….. 🙂 “Buzzing” you is always a bit of a surprise but fun….. 🙂

    Wonderful flight with Mike to the Chinese Wall yesterday morning as well as other places – he should have pictures coming “soon”…..

  8. ELLEN BLACKSTONE

    I don’t care about the foliage, one way or the other, but I do like the horizontal composition better. The wings spread (OK, starting to anthropomorphize here…) give me such a feeling of joy. And the expanse, left to right, enhances that for me. In that way, the first one is almost more scientific. They’re both beautiful!
    OK, and I will be honest, this photo leaves me a little teary-eyed. Such amazing little creatures. Thanks for the photos, Ron.

    • “the first one is almost more scientific”

      I had a similar thought about it, Ellen. For me the word “clinical” came to mind, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a negative.

  9. Everett F Sanborn

    I really like the clean sharp contrast of #1 against the black background. Some might think manipulated, altered, etc, but we FP followers of course know it is not. I for one don’t like the foliage.
    Always interesting how different we humans can be in our opinions of something and how differently we often see something.

  10. My brain is more at ease parsing the photo with the foliage in the corner: I think it might have something to do with how our brains make up stories about what we perceive in order to place it in context. Your landscape orientation instantly made sense to me!

  11. Usually I have no preference between your 2 alternatives. But this time, they seem very different. The first one is so striking – looks like a studio photograph – not sure that is the right phrase but I hope you know what I mean. The second one looks real. So I vote with Phil and Kaye in favor of the one with the foliage. And I vote with Kris too about liking the bird without the jewelry. (I seem to be in a consensus building-agreeable kind of frame of mind today. quite unusual.)

  12. Michael McNamara

    I’m with Phil. I think the foliage gives it some reference.

    Read somewhere, perhaps right here in FP, that hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backwards.

  13. I like them equally well, and for the same reason—the dark/lightformat places emphasis on the hummingbird’s very distinctive form– it seems
    that almost always those flashy gorgets get all of the attention–these
    images focus on the bird itself instead of the “jewelry”, and I like that !

  14. I like the foliage too, because you know the photo was taken in real time and not altered. A humming bird really taking off.
    I am going to try your slinky method today..
    Take Care,
    Kaye

  15. I do prefer the horizontal composition, and the main reason is that I like the bit of foliage in the foreground.

    • Thanks for explaining your preference, Phil. I wasn’t sure how folks would feel about that foliage. Can’t even decide how I feel about it…

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